MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette will be sending our Top 3 nominees from
Southwest Michigan next week for a special year-end MLive report, and we need
your help.

On Thanksgiving, MLive will present a statewide poll to help readers select the Top 10 people to watch in Michigan in 2013.

Who are the top politicians, thinkers, artists and businesspeople
who are going to propel the state forward next year?

Our nominees include Republican U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, who has
served Southwest Michigan since 1986 and won re-election Nov.6 — but by the
smallest margin of his career. Will Upton, who had a reputation for
bipartisanship before the budget battles that landed the country weeks away
from a "fiscal cliff," move back toward the political center?

At the statehouse in Lansing, the one to watch is House
Speaker Jase Bolger, who will start his final term in January. Bolger had been
a rising star in Michigan politics before an ongoing investigation involving Roy
Schmidt's switch from the Democratic to Republican Party and an effort to mount
a phony candidate to run against him. (Bolger has admitted his role in the
affair but said no laws were broken.)

On the business front, we nominated Ron Kitchens, chief
executive officer of Southwest Michigan First and a host of other enterprises
including the First Angels and the Catalyst Leadership Series, and Kevin A.
Lobo, the new chief executive officer of Stryker Corp., who took the reins of
the medical device maker in October after a tough year that involved a Class 1
recall and the abrupt resignation of former CEO Stephen Macmillan in February.

Kalamazoo is a center for activists working to legalize the use of marijuana, thanks in part to the efforts of John Targowski, a criminal
defense attorney who helped author the charter amendment allowing three
medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. The measure passed the Nov. 6
ballot by with 64 percent of the vote.

As suggested by a recent New York Times magazine cover
story, The Kalamazoo Promise is getting another look these days as its college
graduation rates outpace national rates. Janice Brown, the executive director
of the Promise and former superintendent of KPS schools, is responsible for
shepherding the landmark scholarship program -- funded by anonymous donors and offering up to four years of
tuition at any state-run college or university -- into its next phase.

In the world of entertainment, Kate Upton leaped to national
prominence when the 20-year-old model appeared on the cover of Sports
Illustrated in a barely there bikini. Since then, Upton has tried to parlay her
fame into genuine supermodel status, with mixed results. The curvy blonde has
yet to walk the runway at New York Fashion Week, but she just scored her first
Vogue cover with the November issue of Vogue Italia.

Vote for the person you think is most worth watching below. By Tuesday, Nov. 20, we will forward our three nominees on for statewide consideration.

Did we forget an artist, author, tech start-up or
cutting-edge researcher whose great new idea will mean big things for Michigan's
future? Click "other" and nominate your choice in the comments section below.

&amp;lt;a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/6690956/"&amp;gt;Who are the Southwest Michigan residents to watch in 2013?&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;